Chapter 2

Soon, the opponent’s ID faded away.

Rong Yi exited the page and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his slightly warm fingertips.

He clicked on the live stream page, and sure enough, the bullet screen was already exploding with comments.

“I was wondering why Yin was so ridiculously strong on the other side, turns out it’s Yin-Ge1!”

“What’s Yin-Ge doing on the Global Server? Isn’t he always on the NA Server? I’ve never seen any domestic players queue with him before.”

“Xiao Yin ended his contract with the NA Region this season. Rumor has it he’s returning to China! He’s already playing on his Global Server account.”

“Yin’s Yin is really in a league of his own. I’ve only heard about it before, but today I finally witnessed it.”

“Yi-God, aren’t you gonna add him as a friend?”

Rong Yi picked up the water cup on the table and remained silent for a moment before saying, “I’m not that familiar with him, so I won’t add him.”

He continued with his ranked games.

The time slot today was really not the best; it was too early, and the same few people were playing in this rank range. In this game, Xiao Yin was on his side, probably eager to rank up, and chose Yin, showing off his stats.

Two hundred games with Yin, a 97.4% win rate.

Top-tier pro players ranking up is indeed like drinking water.

A few strangers on the same team were guessing, “Yin-Ge? Is it really Yin-Ge himself?”

“Oh my god, I never thought I’d get to queue with Yin-Ge in my lifetime! Whatever you need, just say it! We’ll play anything!”

Rong Yi got the mid lane. Without turning on his mic, he played for a bit, and then a message popped up in the chat box.

[Yin]: “Is the mid laner the support from the last game?”

Rong Yi glanced at the line and casually took down the enemy jungler, then replied with a simple “yes” and didn’t say anything further.

[Yin]: “Can I add you as a friend?”

Straightforward and polite.

He probably didn’t recognize who he was.

The teammates were going crazy: “Yin-Ge! We also want to be on your friend list! Yin-Ge, look at us!”

After pausing for a moment, Rong Yi quietly explained, “I’m a pro player, I don’t do duo queue.”

This was indeed a rule in some strict clubs. When Rong Yi was in RS, it was explicitly forbidden to queue with players from different teams, and streaming with unfamiliar champions and positions was also restricted to prevent tactic leaks and micro skill research.

[Yin] didn’t respond further.

Rong Yi looked at the figure on his side, cutting down enemies like a force of nature, and paused for a moment. Like any casual player and fan, he typed, “Well, maybe I can get a friend slot from Yin-God?”

[Yin] replied with an “OK” quick emote.

After the game, Rong Yi sent a friend request without filling in any verification information.

Xiao Yin accepted it quickly.

After that, Rong Yi stared at the opponent’s avatar and the green online indicator for a while, spacing out.

Neither side said anything.

After a while, he seemed to remember something and told his live stream audience, “I’ve got something to do, so I’ll stop here for today.”

His streaming schedule today was unusual anyway, so his fans weren’t surprised. Rong Yi smoothly ended the stream and exited the game.

He opened a social media app.

A pro player’s contact list is always flooded with 999+ messages that you can never clear. He scrolled down and finally found a message.

[Commentator Lin Yi]: “Easy Baby, did you know Yin-God is coming back to China this season?”

It was sent several days ago and had been buried, so he hadn’t seen it.

Lin Yi was one of the few friends Rong Yi had known for a long time. They started competing together when the league began. Lin Yi was eight years older than him and retired early, but even though his mechanics couldn’t keep up, his game sense was still sharp. He transitioned to being a commentator and did so consistently well.

Rong Yi grabbed a nearby Shuhua milk, sipping as he replied, “I just found out.”

Lin Yi: “What, did he reach out to you?”

Rong Yi hesitated for a moment, conflicted, then finally replied.

“No.”

“Just ran into him in a ranked match.”

“He’s just recently returned to China and started a new Global Server account, so he’s definitely grinding ranked,” Lin Yi said. “He brought back some veteran players. We’re all guessing he plans to form his own team.”

Rong Yi looked at the lines of text, unsure of what to say.

“Have you decided where you’re going next? If he’s recruiting, I think you should join,” Lin Yi said. “The stuff from a few years ago… he’s been with championship teams, he probably won’t care anymore.”

“Right now, you’re listed, and RS’s base price is twenty million. Who dares to buy you? RS just wants to push you into becoming a free agent, forcing you to retire,” Lin Yi said. “If you could team up with Xiao Yin, it might actually be a good thing.”

“I’ll think about it,” Rong Yi typed quickly.

Lin Yi said, “Don’t be childish. Adults can overcome any obstacle.”

“Yeah.”

Rong Yi squeezed the Shuhua milk bag, lowered his eyes, and continued to scroll through his contact list.

Many people had told him about this, but because of his contract termination with RS, he didn’t know until now. He was the last person in the world to find out Xiao Yin was back.

Those who started their professional careers early might have heard about some discord between him and Xiao Yin, but the new generation of players knew nothing about it.

He and Xiao Yin weren’t from the same era. Though they were the same age, Rong Yi started his pro career young. When he led RS to their first domestic championship, Xiao Yin was still in a youth training camp abroad.

At that time, the RS manager asked him to scout for talent, and he immediately spotted Xiao Yin in the world rankings.

After identifying the talent, the next step was to make contact.

At that time, Xiao Yin was with their rival team, nearing the end of his contract.

It was only after meeting Xiao Yin that Rong Yi became aware of his own sexual orientation鈥”and they ended up having sex after getting drunk.

Afterwards, Xiao Yin found out that Rong Yi was a headhunter for RS. Following that, rumors of Xiao Yin’s chaotic personal life began to spread, including photos of them entering a hotel together.

In the photos, Rong Yi’s face was not visible, but Xiao Yin’s cold, distinct features were clear.

Rong Yi tried hard to explain, but he knew it was futile. Xiao Yin, being young and proud, couldn’t tolerate such things. Without a word, he broke up with Rong Yi and moved abroad after his contract ended.

They had no further contact.

Sometimes, Rong Yi found himself in a daze.

It turned out he had… been in a relationship.

Even though it started off on the wrong foot.

Rong Yi searched for information about Xiao Yin.

His team had already been established, though the name hadn’t been decided yet. It was said they had a system and network brought directly from a youth training camp abroad.

However, they were likely still short on players. When founding a club, recruiting talent is always the top priority; otherwise, Xiao Yin wouldn’t have timed his return to coincide with the off-season.

A club like that wouldn’t hold open tryouts. Any potential recruits would be approached privately through existing networks.

In other words, if Xiao Yin had considered him, he would have already reached out.

Rong Yi calculated his savings: three thousand yuan, enough to last two months until he found a job.

He definitely wasn’t going to Xiao Yin’s club. One couldn’t afford to be delusional.

Rong Yi mentally reviewed the clubs that had contacted him and finally decided to reach out to Lin Yi: “Lin Yi, can you do me a favor and see if any club’s competition training team needs someone?”

Lin Yi was so startled that he called him right away. “Applying for the competition training team? Are you retiring? You’re only 22; you can still play for several more years, Easy Baby. It’s not that bad.”

“I’ve thought it through,” Rong Yi said. “I’ve had a falling out with RS, and I’m not interested in joining a new team. You know me鈥”I can’t show my face. Maybe working behind the scenes would suit me better.”

Lin Yi fell silent.

Rong Yi continued, “Given my personality, I’m not really suited for being in the spotlight. So, I hope you can keep an eye out for me. If nothing suitable comes up, then so be it.”

Lin Yi finally softened his tone. “Alright… I’ll see what I can do.”

Rong Yi packed up his belongings, bagging up what he needed to move and listing the unopened items on a second-hand website.

Having grown up accustomed to a nomadic lifestyle, he didn’t feel the usual anxiety most people would.

He put on his headphones, lay on the couch, and randomly selected a replay of a match he had lost, closing his eyes and letting the commentator’s voice become the background narration.

“Setting aside team error margins, Easy’s reaction time and ability to capitalize on opportunities are truly top-tier. I think he’s at least T0 level in the league.”

“In this encirclement, the enemy Jungler’s entry and his retreat were almost simultaneous. We often say that no one can dodge Di’s Flash Q, but Easy can.”

“Oh no… RS didn’t follow up, didn’t follow up! The team is breaking at the seams! They’ve had several breakpoints like this this year.”

“Objectively speaking, Easy’s shotcalling is very aggressive. However, the rest of their team tends to play more conservatively. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The rhythm of team fights is like that鈥”once the moment passes, you just have to let it go. Sacrificing the support is common.”

He didn’t even need to think to know how the audience comments were flooding the screen.

“Honestly, Easy’s shotcalling can’t keep up with the team anymore.”

“I don’t get it! Was it necessary for the support to initiate there?”

“The commentator is being nice. Just because Easy is the captain, no one calls him a deadweight? I’ll be blunt! In this patch, Easy is dragging the entire team down!”

…

Rong Yi closed his eyes and took a nap. When he woke up, Lin Yi had already sent him several reliable leads.

“Several teams’ competition training teams need people, and the league event center’s broadcast team is also short-staffed. Lately, the broadcast crew has been missing key moments in the matches and getting a lot of flak for it.”

Rong Yi perked up. “How much is the pay for the broadcast position?”

This seemed like a good fit for him.

Lin Yi hesitated. “The behind the scenes salary is quite low, nothing like a pro player’s… It’s 2,500 yuan a month. Can you accept that? I’m not trying to insult you, I just think it might be a good transitional role…”

“No problem. I once worked at a milk tea shop for 800 yuan a month.” Rong Yi interrupted him and quickly asked, “When’s the interview?”

The interview was scheduled very soon, likely thanks to Lin Yi’s efforts.

Rong Yi packed up and headed straight to the league center building that day.

Having never appeared on camera, no one recognized him on his way there. Once inside the interview room, the interviewer glanced at him and first confirmed, “This is for the behind the scenes team, not the media team, right?”

“I didn’t get lost,” Rong Yi replied.

The interviewer looked down at his resume, flipping through it as he spoke, “Really? With your looks, it’s a bit of a…”

The interviewer didn’t finish saying “shame.”

Rong Yi sat obediently in front of him.

The interviewer reached the last page of the resume and finally looked up, incredulous. “Yi-God, are you here for fun? Or are you doing some kind of live-streaming challenge?”

Rong Yi sincerely said, “I’m serious. I hope you’ll consider me.”

The two interviewers exchanged glances, seemingly unsure of how to handle the situation. Rong Yi had to prompt them for the full process: “You can ask me some questions about my work experience, or anything else.”

Ten minutes later, the interview was over.

Noting the expressions on the interviewers’ faces, Rong Yi optimistically asked, “So, I have no chance, right?”

One interviewer wiped his brow. “Well… even if you really want to join, we wouldn’t dare waste such talent. The league organizer would tear us apart.”

Rong Yi understood. “Alright, sorry for the trouble.”

He hadn’t considered this aspect. While RS wanted to force his retirement, he could choose never to join another team. However, staying in any tournament-related work would eventually lead to someone digging up his past, causing negative impacts all around.

Looking at it this way, remaining in a position related to the pro league was indeed a bit extravagant.

Rong Yi left and sat in the league building’s lounge area, quietly searching for other opportunities.

People came and went around him, with few paying him any attention. Perhaps a few noticed the handsome young man sitting there and took an extra glance, assuming he was some streamer waiting to sign a deal.

On the other side, the elevator doors opened, and a group emerged from the restricted, internal-use corridor. Leading the group was a very striking man. Due to his height, he slightly lowered his head to accommodate the person speaking beside him, his demeanor cool and composed.

“Actually, Yin-God, you didn’t need to come in person. For registration procedures, just a word would suffice.”

The league organizer’s representative couldn’t stop smiling, full of enthusiasm. “But since you happen to be available today, have we mentioned the sponsor to you? As we discussed before…”

“Yin-God?”

Xiao Yin suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling, though it was unclear where he was looking.

The organizer glanced in that direction, seeing only a typical lounge area.

On a side sofa, a young man leaned back, seemingly resting his neck.

He had his eyes closed, slim, pale fingers holding a phone. Even as a mere silhouette, he appeared delicate and slender.

One could clearly see the gentle rise and fall of his breathing.

“Nothing, continue,” Xiao Yin said.

After rounding the corner, Xiao Yin spoke again, “May I ask what that work area back there is for?”

His voice had a calm, deep tone, with a peculiar huskiness to it.

The organizer didn’t understand, but a small assistant nearby chimed in, “That’s the behind the scenes team interview area. Yin-God, did you find that person familiar? I took a look, and he seemed to resemble RS’s former captain, Easy.”

Footnote:

1. Yin-Ge(Yin哥): In Chinese culture, adding the word “哥” (gē) after someone’s name is a way to show respect, affection, or camaraderie towards a male.  It is a friendly and respectful way to address them, implying a sense of kinship or close relationship.